02 July 2009 6:40am
Forget social networking and blogging, video interviewing will have the biggest impact on recruitment of any new technology, argues leading international HR consultant Dr John Sullivan.
Sullivan says the move to video interviewing is finally becoming widespread in the US and Europe and is starting to be seen as a necessity rather than a “nice to have” by leading employers.
Not only is video interviewing a major cost saver, says Sullivan, it speeds up time to fill, reduces interview drop out rates and vastly improves the candidate experience. As well, the “interview from anywhere” concept opens the possibility that recruitment companies and employers may decide to outsource the entire shortlisting process to lower-cost offshore locations.
The trend to video interviewing takes advantage of widespread broadband internet access and inexpensive webcams, two factors that severely restricted videoconferencing as a feasible alternative to face-to-face interviews a decade ago.
The quality of the video has improved significantly with broadband and the latest generation of webcams, adds Sullivan.
“Unlike telephone interviews, facial expressions and body language can be readily seen, something that hiring managers rate as a “must-have” feature,” he says.
Sullivan says hundreds of major employers including HP, Google, Rio Tinto, E*Trade, Whirlpool and Pepsico are now using video interviewing, and usage patterns are climbing at a significant pace.
“I predict that within a few years the ‘interview from anywhere’ approach will become the standard practice for all but final hiring interviews,” Sullivan says in a recent article.
Besides being cheaper, faster and more efficient, Sullivan argues that video interviewing broadens the potential candidate pool by making it possible to easily interview candidates from outside a company’s local area. It also improves candidate availability by enabling candidates to do an interview without spending a day or half day out of their office.
Offering this approach to interviews will help employers and recruiters to be seen as cutting-edge in their field and improve their employer brand.
“By showing respect both for the candidate’s time and the needs of their current firm, you may also build goodwill in your image,” he says.
Australia yet to embrace video interviews
Very few recruiters are using video interviews in Australia at present, according to Tom Culver, national sales manager of video solutions company Vipepower.
Culver argued that video interviews are only practical for the preliminary stages of interviews for executive level jobs. He said one of the biggest hurdles for widespread use of live video interviews is that many companies’ IT firewalls prevent the use of Skype and other video programs.
There is also currently little demand from Australian employers to have the ability to manage video interviews in their applicant tracking systems, according to Adam Whitelaw, product director of recruitment and talent management systems company NGA.NET.
Whitelaw told Recruiter Daily NGA.NET’s software has the ability to work with embedded video links such as Google Videos and clients can also load video files into a file library and link to them from assessment screens or candidate files.
NGA.NET may consider integrating its software with the software of a client’s preferred video partner in the future if requested, he said.
Recruitment Directory’s Thomas Shaw said video interviews “certainly cut down resources if you’re interviewing remotely located staff or you have hiring managers in different locations”.
“[But] nothing still beats a one on one personal interview,” he added.
“You still need to meet the person and get a feel for them. Video interviews are a great introduction to the next step.”
http://www.recruiterdaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&nav=1&selkey=39911
